Great Migration: Spring Birthing Season & The Circle of Life

Wildebeest A large herd of wildebeest thunders across the dry southern Serengeti plains as they begin their long semi-annual trek north to Kenya.

Cheetah A mother cheetah and her 2 cubs stand guard over the young wildebeest killed a few moments prior.

Cheetah One of the young cubs takes a rest after gorging on momma’s kill. Intermittently throughout the day, the 3 cheetahs will feed, taking turns amongst themselves.

Lioness In this & the next 2 photos, a semi-adult lioness grooms herself and relaxes in the warm morning sun, probably after feasting on an earlier kill (note pink color on her left paw in image 0004).

Lioness

Lioness

Lioness This young lioness mother (whose cubs are carefully hidden in thick brush nearby) took advantage - seconds before this photo was made - of an unsuspecting herd of wildebeest and zebra in a waterhole. After capturing the next meal for herself & her cubs, she rests before dragging her capture to her hiding place.

Cheetah This mother cheetah and her three cubs sit atop a favorite vantage point for all cheetahs in the Serengeti: a large termite mound.

Lioness Always alert to danger and for their next meal, these lionesses survey the area while they relax in thick bush.

Leopard After spending time gorging on an earlier kill, this large male leopard decides to move to a higher vantage point in this old acacia.

Banded Mongoose

Cheetah Slightly elevated, the cheetah family watches for predators as well as for their next meal.

Lioness

Cheetah Hidden since birth in tall marshy grass, three three-week old cheetah cubs watch for their mother to return from her hunt for food.

Cheetah The mother cheetah checks the horizon for predators who could harm her or her cubs.

Cheetah The following morning the tiny cubs follow their mother’s lead out of their hiding place.

Cheetah Upon reaching a large open area, the cubs begin running with wild abandon across the unobstructed terrain. Their exuberance seemed to be saying, ‘I’m free! I’m free!’

Cheetah Cheetah cubs are born with a long woolly light gray mantle of fur from the top of their heads extending down their backs. The fur on the rest of their body is grayish brown with black spots typical of cheetahs. This coloring provides an effective camouflage for the vulnerable young ones.

Cheetah This cub leaves its siblings to check in with momma.

Cheetah

Cheetah

Cheetah Mother and cubs survey the landscape.

Cheetah Left behind by the rest of the group, this cub calls for its mom.

Bat-Eared Fox

Cheetah This female cheetah looks back, checking on her two juvenile cubs, before she continues her morning hunt for food.

Cheetah The two cubs are more curious about us than their mother who is more fixated on what they will eat later.

Cheetah This very young cheetah cub (note the woolly fur on its head and back) has been hidden by its mother in thick brush while she looks for food.

Lioness

Hippopotamus A female hippopotamus suns with its newborn on its back – an extremely rare sight.

Cheetah A female cheetah and her juvenile cub rest after getting soaked in an afternoon rainstorm.

Male lion

African Elephant At birth, elephants have no control over their seemingly unwieldy trunks; it takes months of practice in order for them to learn how to use the appendage effectively.

Common Zebra This female zebra checks her newborn, probably born just hours before this photo was made.

Maasai Giraffe This is a series showing two juvenile giraffes play fighting.When a giraffe wants to ‘attack’ another giraffe, he stands perpendicular and tries to wrap his neck around the neck of his target, ideally violently hitting the other giraffe with his horns.

Maasai Giraffe This is a series showing two juvenile giraffes play fighting.When a giraffe wants to ‘attack’ another giraffe, he stands perpendicular and tries to wrap his neck around the neck of his target, ideally violently hitting the other giraffe with his horns.

Maasai Giraffe This is a series showing two juvenile giraffes play fighting.When a giraffe wants to ‘attack’ another giraffe, he stands perpendicular and tries to wrap his neck around the neck of his target, ideally violently hitting the other giraffe with his horns.

Maasai Giraffe This is a series showing two juvenile giraffes play fighting.When a giraffe wants to ‘attack’ another giraffe, he stands perpendicular and tries to wrap his neck around the neck of his target, ideally violently hitting the other giraffe with his horns.

Maasai Giraffe Maasai Giraffe Just before this was made, a truck drove behind the giraffes on the dusty road. The dust behind the two creatures gives the scene an otherworldly quality.